QB Deshaun Watson frustrated with Texans' red zone production

QB Deshaun Watson frustrated with Texans' red zone production

The Houston Texans are 9-3 and a win Sunday at NRG Stadium over the Indianapolis Colts earns them an AFC South title. However, second-year quarterback Deshaun Watson is not pleased with the output of the offense in the red zone through 12 games.

“When we get in that red zone, we want to score points,” Watson told reporters Wednesday. “We want to score touchdowns, and of course, we want to get field goals, but as an offense, especially as a quarterback who loves to put up a lot of touchdowns, it’s kind of frustrating at times.”

The Texans offense has a 48.9 red zone conversion percentage, the eighth-lowest in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys at 48.6 percent, the seventh-worst, are the only other team leading their respective division to be in the bottom-10. All of the other teams, save for the Minnesota Vikings in 10th place at 52.8 percent, are having disappointing seasons that more than likely won’t end the playoffs.

On the flip side, four division leaders are in the top-10 in red zone conversions with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, and New Orleans Saints with the Arizona Cardinals being the only team in the top-10 to not have any realistic shot at the postseason. That type of output is what the Texans will have to match or surpass if they want to go beyond the divisional round for the first time in franchise history.

“I guess it depends on how the game is going,” Watson explained. “If we need to settle for a field goal, it’s always good to get points, but at the end of the day on offense, we want to score touchdowns and be able to celebrate and get our pictures and things like that too.”

One positive that can be said about the Texans’ red zone offense is that the quarterback has not thrown an interception in that area the whole season, joining Watson with Tom Brady, Josh Rosen, Aaron Rodgers, Baker Mayfield, Kirk Cousins, and Drew Brees as the only passers to have not thrown a red zone interception with a minimum of 30 passes. As long as the Texans are still getting points out of the trips, even if they aren’t touchdowns, it increases their odds of holding forth against an opponent.

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